Cassano, a Huguenot resident, is the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the agency. But the 40-year veteran recently turned 65 -- the mandatory retirement age for chiefs.
The mayor would have to grant Cassano a waiver in order to continue in his current position, unless he chooses to appoint him to another post.
Scoppetta was named by Mayor Michael Bloomberg just three months after the attack that killed 343 firefighters who rushed to the burning World Trade Center towers and as thousands of their
brethren were retiring. In a letter to staff yesterday, Scoppetta said he was leaving to pursue teaching opportunities.
Scoppetta said he took the Fire Department job because he wanted to help the city recover from the tragedy.
"The biggest challenge was to begin rebuilding the ranks while simultaneously learning the lessons of Sept. 11 and preparing to respond to another attack," he said in his letter.
Under Scoppetta's tenure, the nation's largest fire department hired more than 6,000 firefighters, enhanced radio communications in underground facilities and high-rises, which had been a problem during the Sept. 11 attack, and better trained the rank and file on how to respond to large-scale attacks. Since the attack, five times as many firefighters and emergency medical personnel have advanced training, Scoppetta said. The department also made many technological improvements.
"The indisputable fact is that today's FDNY is, without question, better prepared, better trained and better equipped than ever before," he said.
Scoppetta saw his share of tough times at the Fire Department, including a 2007 fire at a condemned toxic skyscraper at Ground Zero in which two firefighters, including South Beach resident Robert Beddia, died.
